1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an RFID tag information communicating apparatus for transmitting and receiving information via wireless communication with RFID circuit elements including an IC circuit part for storing information and a tag antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) systems are known, which performs information reading and writing contactlessly between a small-sized RFID tag and a reader (reading device)/writer (writing device). For example, an RFID circuit element, which is included in a label-shaped RFID tag, has an IC circuit part which stores predetermined RFID tag information and an antenna connected to the IC circuit part through which information is transmitted and received. Even when the RFID tag is dirty or disposed at an invisible position, the RFID tag information stored on the IC circuit part is accessible (reading/writing of information) from the reader/writer side. Accordingly, the RFID systems have been put into practical use in a various fields such as product control and/or inspection process.
For example, an RFID tag information communicating apparatus (storing device) disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP, A, 2004-82432), which performs information writing onto such an RFID circuit element, is known. The prior art is configured as described below. That is, a strip shaped tag tape (base paper), to which rectangular label pieces (labels) are affixed at predetermined intervals, is fed out from a tag tape roll (roll paper). While the tag tape is fed through a feeding path, predetermined RFID tag information, which is generated by the apparatus, is transmitted to an antenna of an RFID circuit element included in each label piece. The information is written sequentially into an IC circuit part (IC chip) connected to the antenna, and print information corresponding to the written RFID tag information is printed on the surface of the RFID label by a printing means (recording head), thus completing an RFID label.
Generally, an RFID label produced by writing RFID tag information therein and applying related print thereon by the RFID tag information communicating apparatus (writing device) of prior art, is provided onto an object (article or the like) to be managed by affixing or other method. A reader (reading device) reads the RFID tag information from the RFID label provided onto the article or the like, thereby the information about the article is obtained, and thus the articles are managed. To produce RFID labels and actually manage articles by using them, a system having functions both of a reader and a writer is required. However, the conventional writer does not have the function as a reader, or even when provided with the function, the function as a reader is configured to perform communication only with a tag for writing, and the function as the reader cannot be applied for managing articles or the like. Therefore, another RFID tag information communicating apparatus, which functions as the reader, is required. As a result, a cost burden on a user was large.